We’re celebrating the end of the two-child limit

This week is a good week for children! From 6 April 2026,the UK government has ended the two-child limit to Universal Credit, meaning many families on the lowest incomes can now receive the child element payment of Universal Credit for third or subsequent children in their household.

This positive policy change will be a huge help to many local families we’ve met. Across Wandsworth Borough, 6,690 children were affected by the two-child limit and many will now be lifted out of poverty. Nationally, around 450,000 children will be lifted out poverty.

One local mother, who had to stop paid work to care for her youngest child who was born with a disability, told us that receiving support for all her children in this difficult time would lift a huge weight of stress from her, and mean that she wouldn’t have to use our food bank again.

It’s a good step in the right direction towards the government’s pledge to end the need for emergency food parcels. We’re really grateful to our three local MPs, Marsha de Cordova (Battersea), Fleur Anderson (Putney) and Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) for our conversations about this policy, and for them helping make the two-child limit history.

Dan Frith, Wandsworth Foodbank Manager, was delighted to join others from anti-poverty charities across the UK to mark the moment outside the Houses of Parliament (below, Dan third from left).

However it’s estimated that 1 in 5 families won’t feel the full benefit of this change, as a wider benefit cap still applies to some families. You can find out more in an information leaflet we’ve created with our partners Citizens Advice Wandsworth.

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